vices tender square i indulged in two of my vices while out for brunch yesterday—coffee and bacon. since high school, i was accustomed to drinking two or three cups of coffee a day. this continued until i started grad school, then my stomach got upset regularly and i was convinced i was getting an ulcer. i’m sure the caffeine wasn’t helping my sleep patterns either. so i stopped drinking coffee and made the switch to tea, begrudgingly, treating myself to a coffee when i needed a boost of energy i was sorely lacking. earlier this summer, i got into iced coffee and started consuming it on a daily basis. again, my stomach hated me for it. i like my coffee black, which is part of the problem, so there’s too much acidity. i had to stop drinking it again. i still miss it, and so i allow myself one cup of coffee per week with a little bit of milk or cream. other than that, i steer clear of all caffeinated beverages, including soda and iced tea. i got a regular cup of coffee yesterday at zingerman’s and did not take a refill. i didn’t realize it at the time but that shit was so strong i was getting heart palpitations after we left the restaurant; i turned into a hypebeast behind the wheel! i drank that coffee at 10 am and i was still feeling the effects of it well into the afternoon and early evening, it was ridiculously potent. as for my vegetarianism, i’ve been eating that way since i was 24 or so. i had tried that lifestyle in high school, even went so far as to be vegan for a few months after sara inspired me, but my mom wasn’t supportive; i had to buy my own food and fix my own meals, and i got tired of how much effort it took so i stopped. theresa and i decided to kick meat together, it was her idea to be more eco-conscious, and we traded recipes and meal ideas to ensure we were going about the change as balanced as we possibly could (it’s so easy to live on carbs). i didn’t start eating fish again until my thirties, which makes me a pescatarian now though that’s always sounded like more of a religion to me than a dietary preference. but i have had occasional bites of, and sometimes complete meals, that are meat based in the intervening years. example: michael likes going to slow’s bbq in detroit because it’s the closest thing he’s had to southern barbeque up north. there’s not a whole lot for me to eat there, besides mac and cheese and a jackfruit sandwich that’s prepared like pulled pork and slathered in bbq sauce (i don’t like sauce; see “condiments”). i’m not a very adventurous eater, so i’ve opted for chicken in those instances and have survived. for the past few years, i’ve been allowing myself to sneak in bacon about once a month or so. breakfast meats have always been my achilles heel—i love a good greasy spoon weekend brunch. brea says that this is allowable, that “swine is divine” and that pigs should really "be their own food group.” but michael never lets me live it down; he constantly invokes babe the pig, from that beloved movie of my childhood, to say that i have eaten him, and that he now lives in my belly. 211002 ... nr living in cozy, charismatic clutter with some booze and a joint here and there and whatnot it's healthier than vices could be, i think 220119 what's it to you? who go blather from